1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a pillar garnish mounting structure (the term “mounting structure” may also be referred to as “mounting device”), and a tether clip used with this mounting structure.
2. Description of Related Art
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2011-157054 (JP 2011-157054 A) and Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2011-161946 (JP 2011-161946 A) describe related tether clips and pillar garnish mounting structures in which a pillar garnish is attached to a pillar using a tether clip. The tether clip has a tether portion that extends in a longitudinal direction of the pillar garnish, and an anchor portion that is provided on a tip end of the tether portion and extends in a direction orthogonal to the tether portion. The pillar garnish has a tether housing portion (a housing space) that includes a bottom wall (top wall) in which a long hole (a clip insertion hole) is formed, and left and right side walls that are connected to the bottom wall. The tether clip is attached to the pillar garnish by aligning the longitudinal directions of the anchor portion and the long hole, inserting the tether portion into the tether housing portion, and rotating it 90 degrees such that the anchor portion intersects with the long hole in the bottom wall of the tether housing portion. When the pillar garnish moves away from a pillar when a curtain airbag (hereinafter, also referred to as a Curtain Shield Airbag (CSA)) deploys, the pillar garnish moves until the anchor portion engages with an edge portion of the long hole, such that a CSA deployment gap forms between the pillar garnish and the pillar. Further movement is prevented, so the pillar garnish will not fly out.
With the structure of the related art, the pillar garnish saves space in a width direction by the tether portion extending in the longitudinal direction of the pillar garnish. However, with the structure of the related art, the pillar garnish does not separate from the tether clip because the anchor portion intersects with the long hole in the bottom wall of the tether housing portion, so the distance between the left and right side walls of the tether housing portion must be equal to or greater than the length of the anchor portion. Therefore, it is difficult to save even more space with the pillar garnish by making the distance between the left and right side walls of the tether housing portion narrower.